UH’s bowl hopes dashed with 44-41 loss to Marshall

Derek Redd |
November 17, 2012
| Updated: November 17, 2012 8:39pm

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Houston's offense shook itself out of its slumber during the second half of Saturday's game at Marshall, showing the explosiveness it exhibited in spurts this season and in a constant flood last season.

But it was the one drive where the Cougars got close but not quite there that gave the Thundering Herd the opening to pull out a 44-41 win at Joan C. Edwards Stadium.

Trailing by three touchdowns halfway through the third quarter against the Herd, the Cougars stormed back behind a 316-yard, five-touchdown performance from backup quarterback Crawford Jones, who made his first career start. But on its final drive, Houston (4-7, 3-4 Conference USA) settled for a 28-yard Matt Hogan field goal to tie the game at 41 rather than a touchdown to take a lead.

A kickoff out of bounds gave Marshall (5-6, 4-3) the ball on its 35 and the Herd drove to Houston's 28, sealing the game with Justin Haig's career-long 45-yard field goal. With that, the Cougars' bowl aspirations were dashed.

'Very disappointing'

"It was very disappointing for our seniors," Houston coach Tony Levine said. "We got back in the game, then Marshall made more plays than we did. They're an explosive team. We made some adjustments at halftime to get us back in the game, but it wasn't enough."

The Cougars played the game without starting quarterback David Piland, who was sidelined with a leg injury. Starting running back Charles Sims, who hurt his ankle against East Carolina and missed last week's game against Tulsa, tried to play Saturday. He carried the ball only three times before giving way to Kenneth Farrow.

The juggled lineup looked like it threw the Cougars for a loop in the first half. Houston gained just 148 yards and entered the locker room at halftime trailing 31-10.

When Houston emerged for the second half, its problems seemed to disappear. Jones spread the ball around, connecting on passes to nine different receivers. The bounces started going Houston's way. One third-quarter snap on fourth-and-1 from Marshall's 22 trickled between Jones' legs, but he still converted on a 14-yard pass to Deontay Greenberry and hit Xavier Maxwell for a 4-yard touchdown three plays later.

Offense finds rhythm

"Our offense can kind of go off at a moment's notice," Jones said. "The receivers were really making plays. I'm more of a point guard out there, just trying to get the ball in space and let them do the rest."

They also made plays on special teams, as Jarrett Irving grabbed a third-quarter kickoff and lateraled it across the field to Farrow, who took it to Marshall's 19. Jones threw a 19-yard touchdown to Shane Ros on the next play.

In the end, Marshall's offense proved to be too much to overcome. Herd quarterback Rakeem Cato threw for 377 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions on 32-of-50 passing. Receiver Tommy Shuler caught nine passes for 105 yards and a touchdown.

Running back Kevin Grooms rushed for 155 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries.

Jones got his 316 yards and five touchdowns on 31-of-44 passing, while Farrow rushed for 78 yards on 14 carries.